November 23, 2015

How you all doin!? Thanksgiving is coming up and that day is going to be jam packed for us! We are eating dinner with like every family in the ward! I am going to die. This coming week will be a fun and full week. This last week..once again...has flown by. We had interviews with president and it sounds pretty probable that I might be out of my area. It will definitely be rough considering the relationships I have established and what I have gotten used to..but I still am not counting on it just because you really never know where you are going until you open that letter. The ward has been treating us really well and my companion and I agree we have established some definite trust and respect which is AWESOME. We have been staying busy in our proselyting efforts and had a pretty cool experience this week in an area that our bishop felt inspired to focus our proselyting efforts on. We were visiting a former investigator, who ended up not being home, so we did some tracting.  We knocked on the neighbor's house and he answered. We started talking and it got really interesting. I guess he is some ridiculously smart computer guy who can hack anything. He admitted his beliefs to us - he is an "agnostic atheist" (someone who is open to ideas or beliefs but wants proof). We ended up teaching the restoration to him and when we spoke of the first vision he made a weird face. We asked if he was feeling anything or what his thoughts were. He came back at us saying he felt something very strong...that he could not deny...!!! Inside, I was thrilled. Whether this guy gets baptized or progresses, I don't know..but this little experience I think was rewarded to us because of our labors. We had mission tour (like a zone conference) this week and something president Taylor said was along the lines of ...despite our exact obedience, charity, 100% effort, why does it seem sometimes the Lord isn't blessing us or is there or we aren't having success...its because success, or blessings, or miracles ultimately don't convert us to the gospel. Also, when we have these really cool experiences every so often, we have a greater appreciation for them. True conversion is not what we believe, its through our works and what they allow us to become over time. Charitable is something that people can become. I extend the invitation at the beginning of this Thanksgiving holiday to pray for charity, to have a charitable experience. Over time these acts, or experiences, will engrave in us and allow us to "become" charitable people. Do something for something this holiday season that THEY can be grateful for. I love you all and love it out here! Hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving! Scripture for the week: Ether 12:34.

Sincerely,

Elder Andrew